KIDZ WITH BIZ IDEAZ
Contact:
Dr. Jeff Howard, Associate State Leader - 4-H
jhoward@ag.tamu.edu 979-845-6533
The New Communities Texas project, Kids with Biz Ideaz: A new generation of possibilities , targets at-risk youth in urban, suburban and rural locations lacking economic options. The vision of the New Communities Grant is to expand the best practices and lessons learned from the previous five years of State Strengthening Grant, T-TEEM. The project applies the best practices of the earlier T-TEEM project, taking projects to youth, working through schools, and identifying committed and innovative county Extension teams.

The purpose of the project is to prepare youth with the knowledge and skills to become entrepreneurial thinkers and doers and contributors to the Texas economy. Four objectives guide the work of the project:
1) reach youth who need positive opportunities and economic self-sustainability,
2) provide educational experiences that teach responsibility, leadership, and decision making, 3) demonstrate, through experiential learning, self-employment as a career option, and
4) provide avenues of experiencing business and economic opportunities.

Project sites are located in El Paso, Conroe, Taylor, and Brownwood, Texas.